From a Varroa-free outpost off Australia’s southern coast, beekeeper Shawn Hinves of Kangaroo Island shares how a family operation running 350 hives of pure Ligurian honey bees navigates biosecurity, fire recovery, and the realities of modern beekeeping.

The episode opens with practical fall prep—feed heavy in cold climates, consider insulation, and always test and treat for mites—before diving into global news on the EPA’s approval of an RNA-based Varroa treatment.

Then we travel to Kangaroo Island, where strict ferry inspections, proposed wash-down stations, and community vigilance aim to keep Varroa off the island, reminding every beekeepers that compliance is as vital as any tool in beekeeping.

Shawn recounts how Ligurian honey bees, introduced in the 1880s and protected by a long-standing sanctuary designation, show exceptional hygienic behavior and thrive on native eucalypt and coastal flora that produce ambers, deep reds, and even mauve-tinged honeys.

After catastrophic 2020 bushfires slashed honey yields from 20–25 tonnes to 5–9, his business survived by diversifying into tours —proof that resilient beekeeping pairs craft with entrepreneurship. Listeners step inside his hands-on experiences: suiting up, holding frames, spotting queens, and watching honey bees emerge—moments that turn fear into fascination and often inspire future beekeepers.

Between small hive beetle scares, localized AFB management, and ongoing drought, Sean’s story shows how a beekeeper balances biosecurity, landscape, and community. Ultimately, it’s a love letter to honey bees, a testament to the lifestyle they enable, and a reminder that beyond honey and money, the heart of beekeeping is connection.

Video Version: https://youtu.be/2sfG2QBzXQI

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

https://www.kilivinghoney.com.au/

Opening was recorded at Apimondia in Copenhagen. This episode blends field notes and a feel-good interview with Elsa Gallagher of the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund.

Practical beekeeping takeaways: habitat is the foundation for bees, and forage diversity consistently outperforms monocultures.

Gallagher explains how her team equips landowners with locally adapted seed mixes: a native “picture” bordered by a clover-rich “bee mix,” free for 2–25 acre projects and cost-share above that. She outlines city and campus pathways, from park strips to roadside plantings, stressing the power of local champions.

For small yards, the advice is simple: mow less, overseed Dutch white clover, reduce pesticides, and plant bloom succession—willows in spring, clovers and phacelia in summer, sunflowers and asters in fall.

Monarch support is easy too: add common or swamp milkweed; the butterflies find it.

We also discuss pesticide realities, mosquito spraying, and why building habitat reduces chemical dependence over time.

Whether you run two hives or a commercial yard, this conversation centers love of bees, resilient beekeeping, and healthier landscapes for every honey bee. and beyond.

It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

Video Version: https://youtu.be/yE7KGAFg6IE

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

https://www.beeandbutterflyfund.org/

"It was sheer panic!" That's how Amber explains her wild & crazy beekeeping story.

In this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we open with a poetic ode to honeybees and a couple of “beekeeper bloopers,” then sit down with Amber Leach, North American Sales Manager at Veto-Pharma.

We dig into Varroa Integrated Pest Management (IPM): why testing before and after treating matters, how to avoid resistance through rotation and correct use, and what’s new in Apivar 2.0.

Amber breaks down Varroa EasyCheck (alcohol wash, sugar roll, CO₂), shares high-altitude lessons from 7,500 ft, and explains why commercial beekeepers treat mite management like a business decision.

We wrap with winter-prep priorities, a humbling bee sting story, and practical, step-by-step fall beekeeping checklists.

It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

Chapters

• 00:00 – Cold open: a honeybee’s harmony
• 01:22 – Welcome + fall Varroa reality check
• 01:56 – Beekeeper bloopers: honey-soaked suit & the hose trap; “bees sense fear”
• 03:57 – Guest intro: Amber Leach
• 06:32 – Veto Pharma’s focus: testing → treatment for Varroa
• 07:48 – Varroa EasyCheck: alcohol, sugar, CO₂—how/why to use each
• 09:39 – Habits, misuse, and how resistance happens (human factors)
• 12:16 – Amitraz & Apivar: role, history, and resistance nuance
• 14:24 – Apivar 2.0: formulation changes, faster profile, handling, no withholding
• 15:46 – Storage & correct application basics
• 16:04 – Ad break: Mann Lake honey harvest essentials
• 17:09 – Packages/nucs: don’t assume mite-free; questions to ask
• 20:28 – High-altitude beekeeping & the power of journaling
• 22:02 – Winter prep priorities: mites first; food & windbreaks
• 24:24 – Amber’s “hot hive” sting story (panic isn’t a plan)
• 28:58 – What hobbyists can borrow from commercial keepers: treat it like a business
• 31:53 – Case study: high counts + slow-release treatment expectations
• 34:56 – Start early (July!), be consistent, and retest
• 35:49 – Wrap-up, contacts, and sponsor thanks

Video Version: https://youtu.be/dG35F1qUDDg

__________________

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

Amber: info@veto-pharma.com https://www.veto-pharma.com/

How many sources of income do your beehives produce? If it's just honey sales and a few wax products, you will want to listen to this episode!

In this week's Bee-Love Beekeeping, we explore the magic of honeybee navigation and take a trip to Hawaii’s North Shore to meet beekeeper Katie Metzger, founder of Hanai Hives.

We kick off with a look at groundbreaking research on honeybee eyesight, revealing how these incredible insects read the polarized sky to travel miles and return home without losing their way—even on cloudy days. Then, we dive into Katie’s inspiring beekeeping journey, from her start in California school gardens to leading apiaries in Hawaii.

She shares how she built Hanai Hives, a community-driven beekeeping venture that blends education, agritourism, and honey production.

Together we discuss:

• Beekeeping in Hawaii’s unique microclimates

• The challenges and opportunities of turning beekeeping into a business

• Her hive adoption and hosting programs

• Agritourism experiences like bee farm tours and honey tastings

• Pest management strategies for varroa mites, small hive beetles, and ants

The Hawaiian concepts of Hanai (adoption/nurturing) and Kuleana (deep responsibility), and how they guide her approach to bees and community.

Katie also shares a really unusual wild beekeeping story, her philosophy on mentoring, and how love and responsibility—not just honey or money—drive her work. It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woCzQlxypRU

__________________

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann

Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

https://hanaihives.com/

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/do...

This episode features a beekeeper-engineer’s quest to copy what a honey bee colony does naturally in a hollow tree—and to put that into a production hive.

Alex Gamberoni of Primal Bee, shares how repeated winter losses drove him and his co-founder to model nest shape, airflow, and dew point, ultimately designing the insulated, trapezoidal “Primal Bee” nest that aims to reduce winter losses (reported <10%, sometimes ~5%) and increase honey yields—without changing your honey supers or extractors.

Along the way, we cover forage in the Italian Alps, chestnut honey’s “sweet-then-spicy” flavor, and a delightfully chaotic bee-in-the-Jeep 'Wild & Crazy' beekeeping story.

Beekeeping takeaways abound for every beekeeper, from winter management and feeding density to why nest shape may matter more than insulation thickness for honey bee thermoregulation.

It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

__________________

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/taiIW_Xpcrk

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

https://primalbee.com/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09431-y

Working With Bees instead of Managing Bees. In this episode, Eric takes us across the pond to southwest Scotland for a heartfelt conversation with Titanilla Kiss, a natural beekeeper originally from Budapest, Hungary.

Tita shares her journey from hospitality to beekeeping, the mentorship that shaped her early days, and how she now tends her colonies in the challenging, ever-changing Scottish climate. With a philosophy rooted in observation, respect, and balance, she blends natural remedies, herbal tonics, and even mushroom extracts into her beekeeping practice—all while honoring the bees’ resilience and life cycles.

🌼 What You’ll Hear in This Episode

• The unique challenges (and beauty) of keeping bees near the Atlantic coast in Scotland.
• Native dark honeybees (Apis mellifera mellifera) and why they thrive in stormy, wet climates.
• Why Tita phased out wooden hives in favor of insulated poly hives.
• Her approach to natural beekeeping: observation over intervention, and support with herbal teas instead of harsh chemicals.
• The role of propolis tinctures, herbs, and mushroom extracts in bee health.
• Reflections on loss, resilience, and the parallels between her work as a beekeeper and a death doula.
• The ceremonial aspects of beekeeping—from smoke rituals to honoring the natural cycles of life and death.

It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

__________________

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/026aYtckv_M

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

Tita's Herbal Bee Tea Recipe: https://ko-fi.com/s/3604006d32

This episode of Bee Love Beekeeping takes listeners on a journey from the ancient art of beekeeping to the frontiers of agricultural technology. Host Eric Bennett sits down with Eliyah Radzyner of Beewise to discuss the urgent need for innovation in hive care—especially as North America faces devastating colony losses.

Eliyah shares his personal journey into beekeeping, the “aha moment” that computers could manage hives better than he could, and the creation of Beewise’s BeeHome— "Half Hive, Half Robot," that can monitor, diagnose, and treat colonies remotely. By tackling the three biggest beekeeper challenges—distance, timing, and expertise—BeeHome enables per-hive interventions rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.

Listeners will learn how robotics handle everything from feeding and brood balancing to mite control, why adaptive hive entrances matter, and how AI is beginning to make hive management decisions autonomously. With over 1,200 units already in use, Beewise demonstrates how marrying tradition with technology could save millions of bee colonies and reshape the future of food systems worldwide.

It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

__________________

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/o_TFiQMoEis

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com

https://beewise.ag/home

Featured Guest: Dr. Tom Seeley – Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, renowned honey bee researcher, and author of six influential books including Honeybee Democracy and Piping Hot Bees and Boisterous Buzz Runners.

In this fascinating conclusion to our conversation with renowned honeybee biologist Dr. Tom Seeley, we journey deep into the intricate world of honey bee behavior, decision-making, and hive life. Every beekeeper needs to hear this!

From the poetic dance of foraging to the precise mechanics of swarming, Dr. Seeley reveals what decades of research have uncovered about one of nature’s most sophisticated societies.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The Tremble Dance Decoded – How a long-standing honey bee mystery was finally solved.
• Swarming Secrets – Experiments on a remote island that revealed how bees measure nest size, organize takeoff, and navigate to a new home.
• Democracy in the Hive – How collective decision-making among nest site scouts mirrors—and differs from—human systems.
• The Unsung Resin Collectors – Why a few dedicated bees make all the difference in hive health.
• Specialization & Genetics – How bee “career paths” may be influenced by lineage and environment.
• Drone Congregation Mysteries – The little-known aerial courtship rituals of queen bees and drone bees.

It's all about having fun while we learn about beekeeping and sharing the love of honey bees!

__________________

Video version of this episode: https://youtu.be/CHHkMffkUbA

Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/

Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your first $100 order.

https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/

Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com